Net cafe private booths to be banned?
Causing a sensation on Twitter today in Japan is a story from the Tokyo Shimbun, which reports internet cafes could need permission to offer private cubicles to customer, because of risks of abuse.
According to the newspaper, "since April this year, the police have been given strong instructions to not allow private cubicles in internet cafes without permission, in accordance with the Fuzoku (Vice) Law."
The article says that police believe the rooms "hotbeds for such problems as child prostitution."
Under the fuzoku law, which has been used for various reasons, including the closure of night clubs, a private room of less than five square meters in which food and drink are served neeeds the permission to operate.
The rooms are clearly used most of the time by drunks that have missed their last trains, but police insist there are dangers. "There have been cases of these rooms been used for abusing children," a police officer told the newspaper.
So what's coming next? It's likely that many net cafes will now move to transparent doors so they can keep an eye on their customers.
Photo by dlisbona
